The Sanshin: Okinawa’s Signature Instrument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"Historic](\"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/okinawan-instruments-okinawa-1024x712.jpg\")
Photo: Pre-war photographer<\/a>, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe sanshin<\/strong> (“three strings”) is the heart of Okinawan music. Its small body is traditionally covered in snakeskin, usually python, and its long neck is made from hardwood such as Okinawan ebony (kuruchi<\/em>). Players pluck the strings with a pick worn on the index finger, producing a warm, bright tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe sanshin is generally believed to have come from China around the late 14th century, and it was adopted as a court instrument of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the early 17th century. It later traveled north to mainland Japan, where it is widely regarded as the ancestor of the shamisen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Okinawan music often uses the distinctive Ryukyu scale<\/strong>, built on the notes do, mi, fa, so, and ti, which gives many songs their instantly recognizable island sound. Traditional sanshin music is written in kunkunshi<\/em>, a notation system that uses Chinese characters to represent finger positions on the strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLearning or buying a sanshin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Many music shops and studios in Naha offer short sanshin lessons for visitors, and you can often play a simple song within an hour. If you buy an instrument, ask about models with synthetic skin, which are easier to care for. Python skin may require wildlife trade (CITES) paperwork in some countries, so check your home country’s customs rules before you buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classical and Folk Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Okinawan music is broadly divided into two traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classical music (koten)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Classical Ryukyuan music<\/strong> developed at the royal court in Shuri, where it accompanied ceremonies, dance, and theater, including performances for envoys from China. Singers accompany themselves on the sanshin, often joined by the koto, flute, drums, and the bowed kucho<\/em>. Classical schools, such as the Nomura and Afuso styles, trace their lineages back to master musicians of the 18th and 19th centuries and still teach today.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFolk songs (min’yo)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Min’yo<\/strong>, or folk songs, grew from village life and are sung about love, work, the sea, and hardship. They’re lively, emotional, and often humorous. You’ll also hear the term shima-uta<\/em> (“island songs”) used for folk songs from Okinawa and the nearby Amami Islands. Each island group has its own songs and styles, and Yaeyama folk songs in particular have a distinctive, haunting beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEisa: The Drum Dance of Obon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"Eisa](\"https:\/\/www.okinawa.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/eisa-dance-okinawa-1-1024x682.jpg\")
Photo: HaeB<\/a>, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a> via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nEisa<\/strong> is Okinawa’s most energetic performing art. Traditionally, young people from each neighborhood dance through the streets during Obon, beating large and small drums, chanting, and twirling, to the accompaniment of sanshin and singers. The purpose is to honor and send off the ancestral spirits who return home during the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\nToday, Eisa is also performed by dedicated drumming groups at events throughout the year. The biggest showcase is the Okinawa Zento Eisa Festival<\/strong> in Okinawa City, held soon after Obon. Look out for the comic figure of chondara<\/em>, a painted clown who dances around the edges of the group. See our festival calendar<\/a> for dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKumiodori: Ryukyuan Classical Theater<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Kumiodori<\/strong> is a form of musical theater combining spoken lines, song, music, and dance. It was created by Tamagusuku Chokun<\/strong>, the court’s dance magistrate, to entertain the Chinese envoys who came to crown a new king. The first works were performed in 1719<\/strong> at celebrations for the enthronement of King Sho Kei.<\/p>\n\n\n\nChokun drew on Okinawa’s own performing arts and legends, with influences from Japanese Noh and Kabuki and from Chinese theater. Performers traditionally are all men, and the dramas are performed in the old Okinawan language, with slow, stylized movement. Kumiodori was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1972 and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ryukyuan Dance and Okinawan Theater<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ryukyu buyo<\/strong>, or Ryukyuan dance, includes elegant classical court dances, with graceful hand movements and colorful bingata<\/em> costumes, and later, livelier forms based on folk and popular songs. Okinawa shibai<\/strong> is a popular theater tradition that grew from the late 19th century, with plays about the lives of ordinary people performed in the local language.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKachashi: Everyone Dances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At the end of a party, wedding, or concert, the music often speeds up and everyone joins in kachashi<\/strong>, a free-form dance with hands raised and wrists twisting to the beat. There are no wrong moves, so if you’re invited to join, give it a try. You may also see people clicking sanba<\/em>, a set of three small wooden clappers that work like castanets.<\/p>\n\n\n\nModern Okinawan Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Okinawa has produced many popular musicians who mix tradition with rock, pop, and reggae. Shoukichi Kina and Champloose’s “Haisai Ojisan” became a classic, and groups such as Rinken Band and Nenes brought Okinawan sounds to international audiences. BEGIN, a band from Ishigaki, wrote the music for “Nada Sousou,” made famous by Rimi Natsukawa. Listening to these artists is a great way to tune your ear before you arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where to See Performances<\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe National Theatre Okinawa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Opened in 2004 in Urasoe, just north of Naha, the National Theatre Okinawa<\/strong> is dedicated to preserving and presenting traditional Okinawan performing arts, including kumiodori, Ryukyuan dance, Okinawa shibai, and sanshin music. Check its program for performances; some include explanations or subtitles to help visitors follow along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sanshin<\/strong> (“three strings”) is the heart of Okinawan music. Its small body is traditionally covered in snakeskin, usually python, and its long neck is made from hardwood such as Okinawan ebony (kuruchi<\/em>). Players pluck the strings with a pick worn on the index finger, producing a warm, bright tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sanshin is generally believed to have come from China around the late 14th century, and it was adopted as a court instrument of the Ryukyu Kingdom in the early 17th century. It later traveled north to mainland Japan, where it is widely regarded as the ancestor of the shamisen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okinawan music often uses the distinctive Ryukyu scale<\/strong>, built on the notes do, mi, fa, so, and ti, which gives many songs their instantly recognizable island sound. Traditional sanshin music is written in kunkunshi<\/em>, a notation system that uses Chinese characters to represent finger positions on the strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many music shops and studios in Naha offer short sanshin lessons for visitors, and you can often play a simple song within an hour. If you buy an instrument, ask about models with synthetic skin, which are easier to care for. Python skin may require wildlife trade (CITES) paperwork in some countries, so check your home country’s customs rules before you buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okinawan music is broadly divided into two traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Classical Ryukyuan music<\/strong> developed at the royal court in Shuri, where it accompanied ceremonies, dance, and theater, including performances for envoys from China. Singers accompany themselves on the sanshin, often joined by the koto, flute, drums, and the bowed kucho<\/em>. Classical schools, such as the Nomura and Afuso styles, trace their lineages back to master musicians of the 18th and 19th centuries and still teach today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min’yo<\/strong>, or folk songs, grew from village life and are sung about love, work, the sea, and hardship. They’re lively, emotional, and often humorous. You’ll also hear the term shima-uta<\/em> (“island songs”) used for folk songs from Okinawa and the nearby Amami Islands. Each island group has its own songs and styles, and Yaeyama folk songs in particular have a distinctive, haunting beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eisa<\/strong> is Okinawa’s most energetic performing art. Traditionally, young people from each neighborhood dance through the streets during Obon, beating large and small drums, chanting, and twirling, to the accompaniment of sanshin and singers. The purpose is to honor and send off the ancestral spirits who return home during the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Eisa is also performed by dedicated drumming groups at events throughout the year. The biggest showcase is the Okinawa Zento Eisa Festival<\/strong> in Okinawa City, held soon after Obon. Look out for the comic figure of chondara<\/em>, a painted clown who dances around the edges of the group. See our festival calendar<\/a> for dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kumiodori<\/strong> is a form of musical theater combining spoken lines, song, music, and dance. It was created by Tamagusuku Chokun<\/strong>, the court’s dance magistrate, to entertain the Chinese envoys who came to crown a new king. The first works were performed in 1719<\/strong> at celebrations for the enthronement of King Sho Kei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chokun drew on Okinawa’s own performing arts and legends, with influences from Japanese Noh and Kabuki and from Chinese theater. Performers traditionally are all men, and the dramas are performed in the old Okinawan language, with slow, stylized movement. Kumiodori was designated an Important Intangible Cultural Property of Japan in 1972 and inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryukyu buyo<\/strong>, or Ryukyuan dance, includes elegant classical court dances, with graceful hand movements and colorful bingata<\/em> costumes, and later, livelier forms based on folk and popular songs. Okinawa shibai<\/strong> is a popular theater tradition that grew from the late 19th century, with plays about the lives of ordinary people performed in the local language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of a party, wedding, or concert, the music often speeds up and everyone joins in kachashi<\/strong>, a free-form dance with hands raised and wrists twisting to the beat. There are no wrong moves, so if you’re invited to join, give it a try. You may also see people clicking sanba<\/em>, a set of three small wooden clappers that work like castanets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okinawa has produced many popular musicians who mix tradition with rock, pop, and reggae. Shoukichi Kina and Champloose’s “Haisai Ojisan” became a classic, and groups such as Rinken Band and Nenes brought Okinawan sounds to international audiences. BEGIN, a band from Ishigaki, wrote the music for “Nada Sousou,” made famous by Rimi Natsukawa. Listening to these artists is a great way to tune your ear before you arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opened in 2004 in Urasoe, just north of Naha, the National Theatre Okinawa<\/strong> is dedicated to preserving and presenting traditional Okinawan performing arts, including kumiodori, Ryukyuan dance, Okinawa shibai, and sanshin music. Check its program for performances; some include explanations or subtitles to help visitors follow along.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLearning or buying a sanshin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Classical and Folk Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Classical music (koten)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Folk songs (min’yo)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Eisa: The Drum Dance of Obon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Kumiodori: Ryukyuan Classical Theater<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ryukyuan Dance and Okinawan Theater<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Kachashi: Everyone Dances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Modern Okinawan Music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Where to See Performances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The National Theatre Okinawa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n